The Bozeman Discovery
by Mislav
Summary: Set early in season nine. Unable to get over Amy, Sheldon decides to do the same thing he did last year: take a sabbatical and travel by train. He first travels to Bozeman, and encounters someone he heard about years ago. A story for a summer challenge, multi chapter, non-canon, Sheldon/Lucy pairing.


**A/N: I don't own any of the Big Bang Theory characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

 **Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

 **This takes places few episodes in season nine, while Sheldon and Amy are broken up. It is a Sheldon/Lucy pairing, multichapter story.**

 **Non-Canon Summer Challenge #2: SUMMER FUN?**

 **Your challenge (if you choose to accept it) is to create a TBBT story about a summer adventure. Examples: paintball, knite flying, mini golf, experiment of some type, theme (or water) park, beach, camping, apocalypse training, road trip.**

 **Rules:**

 **1\. Pairings must be non-canon (Sheldon/Penny, Leonard/Amy, Howard/Raj, Amy/Raj, Bernadette/Penny, Sheldon/Leonard, etc.). Please remember to list the pairing in your description.**

 **2\. Must be posted on or Ao3 by August 30th 2017. There is no restriction on length, pairing or type.**

Sheldon stared at the screen blankly, not paying much attention to what was happening on the screen. Leonard was sitting next to him, not really interested either. Just the two of them. Raj was on a date with Emily, or Claire (who would have thought...), Howard and Bernadette were working on a way to make Stuart move out, Penny had to do lots of research for her next work assignment, and Amy... well, she was probably at her apartment, alone. Probably. Possibly. Possibly unlikely.

"Did you meet any other women?", Leonard asked carefully, avoiding an eye contact. "From that dating website?"

Sheldon was silent for a while, but eventually answered. "None have replied to me."

Leonard sighed, choosing his next words carefully. "Have you considered meeting Vanessa again?"

Sheldon glared at him. "She didn't show up on time. She is clearly unreliable."

"How is Amy doing?", Sheldon eventually asked, trying to sound casual. He failed.

Leonard squirmed. "You... you should probably ask Penny that."

Sheldon frowned. "You and Penny talk... right?"

Leonard sighed. "Amy is doing fine."

"Crap", Sheldon groaned. The words came out of his mouth before he could have stopped them. "You know, sometimes I wonder do you even support the idea of me and Amy getting back together."

Leonard cringed. He felt he needed to make some things clear. "Look, Sheldon, I understand this is hard. But if Amy doesn't want to be with you, that is her choice."

"Oh, please!", Sheldon cried. "What about the time when Penny broke up with you? That was her choice too. Yet you were basically suicidal."

Leonard scoffed. "Suicidal?"

Sheldon pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yes, you murdered your dignity", he muttered.

Leonard sighed, rubbing his forehead. "OK, that was a hard time for me", he admitted. "But you weren't supportive at all!", he couldn't help but add.

"I lied about being friends with Penny to avoid hurting your feelings!", Sheldon reminded him. "That's friendship."

"Still, you didn't support our relationship", Leonard mantained. "Not then, anyway."

"Soon after she broke up with you, I would have given anything for the two of you to get back together!", Sheldon insisted.

"That's just because Priya poked holes in your Roommate Agreement!", Leonard cried.

"Our Roommate Agreement!", Sheldon corrected him, his cheeks blushed. "And she ended up cheating on you. If you had broken up with her when I advised you to..."

"Neither of us could have predictet that!", Leonard said. "Besides, Penny only broke up with me because of Will Wheaton."

"Exactly. Will Wheaton was my mortal enemy at the time. And yet you didn't take that seriously, and you still listened to what he said and ate it all up. Penny did, anyway. Do you notice a pattern here, Leonard? You always complain about me, you think all my rules are ridiculous, you always try to find a way around them, and yet, when you manage to make your own choice, when you disregard my advice, how does that end up for you?"

"You want the support, Sheldon? All right. You and Amy should get back together. And maybe the break up wasn't all your fault. Here, I agree! But there is nothing I can do about that!"

"We could watch Firefly, you know", Leonard suggested silently, glancing at Sheldon.

Sheldon just stared at the screen for some time, then stood up. "I think I'll go to bed", he whispered, heading to his room.

He never had to deal with a break up before. So far, he reached only one clear conclusion: the break ups suck. Everyone kept telling him that he needed to give Amy some space, let her be, respect her wishes, but every next day seemed more difficult without her. The fact that everyone thought the break up was his fault didn't help either. In a way, it was, but he already knew that. He also knew that, according to social protocols, she was now free to date other men, but the mere thought of that would make him feel that annoying ache in his chest, something between genuine sadness and jealousy. He couldn't decide which emotion he despised more. He wondered did Amy feel the same way about him. Not that she had any reason too. No luck with that dating website, and he was terrible at asking women out, judging by the one time he tried it. Besides, he didn't actually want to date anyone else.

He tried burying himself into work, or simply not think about it. But with his friends always around and Amy working at Caltech, that was pretty much impossible. Sure, they finally stopped talking about "it", but their mere presence was a reminder enough. Not to mention all the glances, and whispers, and general awkwardness. He longed for the time he didn't understand social clues and sarcasm. Things were simplier then.

He felt he had to leave, to get away from it all. Sort out his thoughts. He had done that a year ago, and it turned out fairly well. Of course, things weren't so well anymore. But still... if he would manage to clear his head, put all the negative emotions aside...

Instead of going to bed, trying to get some sleep, Sheldon opened his bedroom closet and pulled out one of his suitcases, gently laying it on the bed. Before he could hesitate, he turned towards the closet again, and quickly selected several T-shirts, pants, and shoes. He carefully folded them and placed them in the suitcase, then put several towels to the side. He sighed, closed the suitcase, sat at his writing desk, and pulled open his laptop. After some googling, he found the latest train records and looked up the earliest train to Bozeman. There was one leaving tomorrow, at nine am. Plenty of tickets available. No need for reservation.

After pulling his laptop close, he called president Siebert and asked for a sabbatical. Again. He was granted one. Again. Siebert's voice sounded almost... hopefully. Sheldon had no idea what that possibly meant.

Once he returned to the living room, Leonard was still watching TV, still not very interested. Sheldon took a deep breath, turned to face him, and spoke up.

"Leonard, I'm leaving tomorrow", he announced, feeling himself shiver.

Leonard stared at him, eyes wide. "To where?", he asked, not sounding convinced yet.

"That is my personal matter. But, to be honest, I'm not sure yet... about future destinations. I will hop trains, like I did last year. I need to clear my mind."

"I'm not sure is that such a good idea", Leonard said, standing up.

"It worked the first time around", Sheldon pointed out. "And don't worry, I won't be leaving the train station this time either."

"You should probably inform Penny, and Howard, Raj...", Leonard started.

"I will send a group email tomorrow", Sheldon assured him. "Just make sure not to let anyone in my room while I am away. And if Amy happens to meet someone else while I'm away, and goes on to marry him, please let me know so I can return and ruin the wedding ceremony."

Leonard frowned, too tired to argue. "Sure, why the hell not?", he said.

Sheldon walked over to the refrigerator. "That being said, I realized that I am too nervous to sleep. How about some holermus?"

#

Sheldon sighed as he got off the train and headed into the train station, his suitcase in hand. He was walking slowly, carefully, looking around, listening attentively. The last time he was there, he basically got robbed. This time, he decided not to let anyone "help him" carry the luggage. Luckily, he only had one suitcase this time. It's not like he planned on moving, after all...

He quickly found a bench, just ten feet away from the tracks. He looked around once again, then pulled wet wipes out of his pocket, and carefully wiped the seat down. Several people gave him odd looks. He didn't care. He then wiped the seat with a paper wipe. He threw the wipes in a near by trash can and finally sat down, positioning his suitcase behind his legs. He reached into his jeans pocket, pulled out a bottle of Purell, and gently applied that glorious substance to his hands.

He still didn't have a clear plan, but he imagined it would be somewhat like his "journey" from a year ago. He'll just sit in a train station and, within few hours, get into another train, to another city that seemed... interesting. And so on. He liked trains, and he liked traveling by trains even more. Actually going somewhere though, exploring a new city... the mere thought felt terrifying.

Sheldon pocketed his bottle of Purell, leaned back into his seat, and looked around, strangely calm. Until he saw something he didn't expect. A familiar face.

Well, a somewhat familiar face... but he had an eidetic memory.

The name popped up in his mind just at the moment when that woman turned around, and happened to be facing him, while he was still pretty much staring at her. Their eyes locked.

Sheldon couldn't believe it, but the familiar face spoke up first.

"Hi."

Sheldon stared back at her for a moment. It wasn't often that he was surprised, let alone stunned, but he needed some time to wrap his mind around the recent developments. Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Hi", Sheldon replied, frowning as the realization hit him. "You are... Lucy", he exclaimed. "Raj's ex girlfriend."

"I don't think the two of us ever met", Lucy replied, taking a hesitant step forward.

"He talked about you all the time", Sheldon elaborated, matter of factly. "He even showed us the photographs of him and you together. Both of them."

"Oh", Lucy sighed, smiling slightly. "I guess you're... Sheldon. Sheldon Cooper."

Sheldon smiled back. "Sheldon Lee Cooper, PhD." His facial expression turned serious again. "I don't shake hands."

Lucy nodded her head, remembering some things that Raj had said about Sheldon. "Understandable." She sighed, trying to control her anxiety. Sheldon stared at her once again, when she smiled and sat on the bench next to him. "Raj once showed me your article, in one of the Physiscs magazines", she explained. "I saw your photograph there."

"How nice of him, for a change!", Sheldon exclaimed before staring at the near by railway. Lucy frowned, unsure of how to react, what to say.

"So... are you just going to sit here?", she asked, trying to sound polite.

Sheldon shrugged. "Maybe. You?"

Lucy observed him curiously, feeling herself grow calmer. "I'm here due to... you know... work", she explained.

Sheldon nodded his head, still focused on the railway. "Understandable."

For the next three minutes, they sat next to each other in silence. A silence that was strangely comfortable, but somewhat awkward in the same time. They didn't seem to mind much though. Eventually, Sheldon leaned over, feeling a strange need to explain himself. "If you must know, I'm here for personal reasons", he said, trying to sound calm and emotionless.

Lucy nodded her head. "OK."

Sheldon continued, feeling an unfamiliar need to justify his decision. "I will probably just be sitting here, with my thoughts, until the next train arrives."

"A train to where?", Lucy couldn't help but ask.

"I'll see", Sheldon said, shrugging.

Lucy nodded her head. "OK.

"There is nothing wrong with that", Sheldon insisted.

"Of course", Lucy agreed. "Who am I to judge?" She looked around, choosing her words carefully. "But there is also nothing wrong with stepping outside", she said, feeling herself shiver. "Take a walk around town. See new things."

Sheldon turned to face her. He couldn't help but look, and sound, surprised. "You are suggesting that?", he exclaimed, then immediately remembered one of Leonard's tedious lectures about social convections and manners. "No offense."

"I know!", Lucy exclaimed, not offended at all. "But the break up with Raj, it made me think... I finally feel that there are worse things than having a potentially embarassing or even dangerous experience in a group of people." She shuddered, looking down at the floor. "So... I started going to therapy... I met someone else... I'm still... messed up... I'm sure Penny would put it that way", she said, cringing. "But now I can easily go to a restaurant, by myself or with someone, and tell my hairdresser how she should cut my hair, so... progress, I guess."

"Fascinating", Sheldon commented, eying her curiously. "You can even approach a straner on a train station."

"Well, I hurt Raj when I broke up with him by text, and I recognized you, you being one of his friends, and the way you were looking at me, I figured you probably recognized me too, so... it felt like a right thing to do. I thought, if I do this, maybe one of his friends won't think that I'm a bad person."

"Oh, I never thought that", Sheldon assures here. I think I've even come to think that breaking up by text is much easier for both parties. It is easier to... hold back your tongue, at least."

Lucy took a deep breath, feeling herself shiver. She felt a strange mixture of relief and concern once she spoke up. "You know, I've been here before", she said silently, biting her lower lip.

"I was here once before too. It didn't end well."

"I mean, I know some places. There is that cafe, two blocks away. If you would, for some reason, like to leave the train station, sitting down for a cup of coffee could be a good start." She sighed in relief as a chuckle escaped her lips. "That's what my therapist told me, it's not my own advice. So, it's probably good."

"I don't drink coffee", Sheldon said. "I've been clean for seven years and counting."

Lucy frowned, unsure of what to make out of his response. "Oh. Congratulations, I guess." Still, she didn't give up. She wasn 'to sure way. Maybe she actually wanted company... for the first time in over a decade. "We don't have to drunk coffee", she elaborated. "You can have a soda or something. Or we can just go for a walk."

"What about your work?", Sheldon asked.

"Oh, we only start tomorrow", Lucy explained.

Sheldon frowned. "I'm not sure", he mused. "I hardly know you." He shivered, looking around. "And I had a pretty bad experience with this town, last time I was here."

"And yet, you came back", Lucy noted.

Sheldon sighed, a solemn look appearing on his face. "Well, I figured it can't be worse than what has been happening to me in Pasadena, over the last two weeks, so..."

"So... what harm could taking a walk with me do?", Lucy finished, smiling slightly. She leaned over to him, lowering her voice. "Let's be bad guys!", she mused, grinning.

Sheldon glared at her, feeling his cheeks blush. "I'm not sure about the second suggestion, but I guess we could take a walk", he said. "And maybe sit down at that cafe." He frowned. "Smoking is banned there, right?", he asked, almost fearfully.

Lucy nodded her head, moving away. "Right."

Sheldon sighed in relief, standing up. "Good, because I disn't bring my emergency oxygen tank", he said, taking his suitcase and heading toward the exit.

To his surprise, Lucy still went with him.


End file.
